nice guys finish first too

It always kind of irritates me when somebody criticizes a good football coach or player because they don't have a nasty attitude. For example, no doubt you have read many times people making fun of Joey Harrington because he plays the piano. Like that has anything to do with anything. Yes, Harrington may stink as an NFL quarterback but that doesn't have anything to do with his playing the piano. Anyways. It was refreshing to me to see Tony Dungy win the Super Bowl and put an end to that myth that nice guys finish last. You don't have to be a Ray Lewis to be a winner. There is more than one way to skin cat. No offense Lee if you are reading this.

Does one exception establish a norm? One nice guy wins and suddenly everyone's perception should change?

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My perception never did change because I knew it was a bunch of bull that nice guys can't win too. But no, I don't believe it will change. I can't really say why without turning this into a religious discussion so I won't. My point is not "only nice guys finish first". My point is it proves a nice guy can win too. Dungy is an awesome coach. They didn't win inspite of him. It proves you don't have to be a vulgar spewing volcanic psychopath to motivate players to clean somebodies clock on the football field.

I may have experienced some bad coaching in my day. But I found when the boys are hanging around the boys, it's all about unrelenting hetero drive. Which included male domination of smaller weaker males thru all methods. Verbal, physical and sexual. Give as much as you can, take as little as you can. You may be able to make your students jump thru hoops to ascertain the classes number one, but here we are all equal. Don't you have some papers to grade?

My apologies for coming across as condescending to you and for my words. I don't get irritated too often but I must admit it was my irritation that motivated me to start this thread in the first place. I guess I am alot like Dungy personality wise. Being the quiet, soft spoken guy that I am, I really get irritated when I hear this misperception that nice guys finish last. I guess I take it kind of personal. As you know, alot of yellers are great coaches. But there are some soft spoken guys that know how to win too. Inside of them they have a very competitive fire that drives them to win. I know cause I am this type. Now I have never coached a team to a Super Bowl but I feel like I have held my own when I used to compete when I was young. One of my sons is this type of personality as well and I have seen him literally dominate games before. He was the starting qb for his team and also the starting point guard. Now he is a marine. Even though he is a quiet guy, he is one tough dude. The greatest coach I have ever seen was a high school coach that could literally win with anybody. In thirty years of coaching, I don't think he ever saw a season below 500. That's a remarkable stat. I have seen him pull off so many wins with average talent it wasn't funny. He was an absolute winner. Funny thing is I never heard him raise his voice in my life. He didn't have to. He was a master teacher and he knew how to teach and to motivate. So my apologies for coming on a little too strong. I guess I take this nice guys finish last thing a little too personal. I'll have to be careful when I enter this type of debate in the future as it occassionally crops up in conversation. I am no better or higher up than you. I'm sorry for coming across that way.

There's no doubt Tony is a class guy and values God in his life. But he's shown weaknesses too. His son commiting suicide might lend to weakness at home. We know coaches rarely spend/get quality time with their kids. At least now his legacy set as one of the best ever.